HOLMES TOWNSHIP - Having a pair of reliable pitchers is key to any baseball team's success.

Having a pair of brothers fill that role is even better.

Over at Wynford, Wyatt and Noah Smith have been holding it down all season as the No. 1 and No. 2 options for the Royals and are a big reason why the team is back in the district semifinal for the eighth time in nine years.

"Being the one-two pitchers on the team, it's fun," Wyatt said. "One game win, one game win, back-to-back brothers. It's kind of cool watching each other pitch."

Wynford, competing at the No. 10 seed in the tournament, made it to the second week after beating Woodmore 2-1 over the course of two days, then Gibsonburg 8-0 the next day.

Against Woodmore, Wyatt had four strikeouts and allowed just one earned run while going 2-of-3 with a pair of runs scored at the plate. Noah came in to relieve him on the second day and was clinical, throwing just 24 pitches in 2.1 innings.

That allowed him to pitch against Gibsonburg the next day, where he threw just 84 pitches, struck out four and allowed five hits in a complete game.

"I've learned a lot from Wyatt; it has really helped me on the mound to help the team win," Noah said. "He has taught me a lot about off-speed and how to locate after practicing with him all fall and winter."

Their most dominant back-to-back performance came earlier in the season in a pair of games against Colonel Crawford.

In the first game, at Schreck Field on a Friday evening, Wyatt nearly tossed a perfect game, striking out 10 batters, walking none and allowing just a single hit in the top of the seventh to Trevin Fairchild.

The following Monday, on the Eagles' home turf, Noah tossed a one-hitter himself, striking out 13 batters and walking four.

"We were kind of messing with each other because I gave up that one-hitter against Crawford and then he gave up a one-hitter against Crawford," Wyatt said. "I was giving him crap because he walked people and I didn't walk anybody that game."

"We're always joking, who is going to do better this time?" Noah added. "He had 10 strikeouts, well I had 13; it's always just a friendly competition."

As one of the seniors on the team, Wyatt has seen a leadership role develop since the beginning of the school year on the football field. His coach, Jordan Oliver, has seen him flourish in the new role, albeit doing so in a timid way.

"Wyatt is a soft-spoken guy. He doesn't say a whole lot, but he leads by example," Oliver said. "He just has a real love, especially for baseball. You can tell he loves the game. He's just a fun player to coach."

His love for the game is apparent in his stats alone. Wyatt is ranked among the top-10 in the league in batting average (.388), hits (31), runs scored (34), on-base-percentage (.495), pitching record (6-2), ERA of pitchers with 50-plus innings (1.90) and strikeouts (80).

Oliver said their interactions on and off the field have been entertaining, especially earlier in the season after their back-to-back one-hitters.

"Wyatt threw a shutout, then Noah turned around and threw a shutout the following week and they were going back and forth together about who is a better pitcher and who threw the better game. It's fun to see them interact," Oliver said. "I don't have a brother, but I have a sister and I can only imagine how much fun it would be to play on the same team together."

He also notices how Wyatt, as the older brother, helps out Noah on the mound during games.

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Noah Smith slides into home plate against Carey.(Photo: Zachary Holden/Telegraph-Forum)

"(Earlier this year) Noah started the game for us against Carey and Wyatt was out in center field and got a pretty good look at the strike zone and I heard him come in and give Noah some words of advice as to where the umpire's strike zone was that day," Oliver said. "More than anything, I just see Wyatt be real supportive of Noah and tell him he threw a nice inning or if there was an inning Noah was down on himself, Wyatt would come in and say 'Hey, you're pitching well and keeping us in the game, keep your head up.'"

The brothers have recently teamed up in their summer league as well, after becoming eligible to play together in the same age group.

"We play summer ball together out in Marion," Wyatt said. "We played on the same team for two years now, but he played at a younger age group for quite some time, but now we're together."

"It's just great to go home and know (one of us is pitching), let's just come back and get wins," Noah added.

They both admit earlier in the season it was tough to get any sort of momentum going with the unfortunate weather that plagued the state throughout April.

"It (was) tough because we'd play two games in a row, we're expecting to play the next day and then we wouldn't play until the next week," Wyatt said. "It (was) tough because we couldn't get to pitch, couldn't get on the field, we weren't seeing live pitching, it was tough to be a hitter and not see live pitching for a whole week."

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Noah Smith looks to his catcher with a runner on first.(Photo: Zachary Holden/Telegraph-Forum)

Now, with a district semifinal game against Galion Thursday afternoon at Shelby High School, the Smith brothers and the rest of the Royals will be looking to get back to the district championship for the second time in three years.

With Noah expected to takeover Wyatt's role as the No. 1 pitcher next season, the eldest brother gave him some words of advice — "Keep shutting teams down, throw strikes and be dominant."

Noah, having another year to try to best his brother's stats says he always tries to "out-do him and get one up on him."

There's at least one thing Noah can say he did better than his brother Wyatt this year.

Wyatt has hit seven batters so far this season; Noah has only hit five.